This is a guest post written by Gary Dek, a SEO expert at StartABlog123.

Content, links and on-page SEO are the cornerstones of search engine traffic, and there are dozens of creative and effective strategies for each. So, what are you NOT doing? Over the years, I’ve built dozens of websites, garnered quite a bit of traffic, and learned a lot of lessons along the way.

Here are some simple SEO tips and changes that have yielded huge results and earned me more traffic than you’d ever expect them to.

Tip #1: Index More Pages With Creative 404 Pages

If you have a large website, getting more pages indexed by Google – and other search engines – is critical. If you’ve developed content, you want it found and ranking; otherwise, it’s just a waste of your resources.

One easy, effective and non-intrusive way to get more of your pages indexed is to optimize your 404 page. A 404 page is a default page where a user is redirected to when he clicks a bad link on your site. This bad link may be due to changes in your permalink structure, renaming URLs, or deleting low quality content as a response to a Panda algorithm penalty.

What do you need to do with your 404 page to get more pages indexed?

It’s simple: instead of a generic 404 page, go for a more creative design, BUT don’t stop there.Use the creative design to catch your visitor’s attention for a second longer so that he can see the links that you have placed on the 404 page.

That’s the key: more than a funny or amusing design, place links in visible locations that will:

• take your visitor back to the home page.
• take your visitor to a random post that might interest them.
• redirect to an article on a similar topic.

For this technique, you can display 5, 10, or 20 internal links. Make sure that you don’t hardcode the links unless you are determined to link to pillar content, such as comprehensive tutorials or guides. This gives your internal pages more exposure.

Tip #2: Don’t generalize your target audience because not all traffic is equal.

Not all traffic is equal in value. If I run an SEO blog that offers link building services, I wouldn’t care to rank for the keyword “how to jump start a car”, even if it is low competition and searched 6,600 times per month in the United States.

While that is an extreme example, the point is that all bloggers should want traffic that converts into revenue. Traffic for the sake of traffic is useless, and frankly, eats up your resources.

You solve this issue by analyzing and understanding the needs of your target audience.A simple exercise is to create personas of different market segments you are looking to attract, and describe them. What are their goals? What problems, obstacles, or concerns do they have? How can you solve their problems? And finally, how can you develop the authority and trust to market to them?

For example, if you have an electronics/technology review site, one of the personas you create is a 25 to 35 year old techie living in San Francisco. He has a good paying job as a graphics designer or web developer, he uses an iPhone or Samsung S5, works on a MacBook Pro or Air, enjoys photography and outdoor activities, and lives with roommates.

Now the SEO comes into the picture. If you’re targeting this type of potential customer, then you have a clearer idea as to what keywords to use. Instead of targeting the keyword “smartphone”, you write a review targeting long tail keywords such as “Samsung Note 3 camera vs iPhone 6 camera”.

Then you can apply the same technique to the other personas you are targeting, such as the frugal techie on a budget.

Tip #3: Speed up your website.

We all know speed is a ranking factor. The faster your site loads, the better it ranks in Google. You can analyze and optimize your site’s code with Google’s PageSpeed Tool. Afterwards, opt for a caching plugin.

In addition to boosting your rankings, lower page load times can improve visitor engagement, retention, and conversions. Thus, the faster a website loads, the more social shares, links, and revenue your site will generate.

Tip #4: Grow traffic by increasing click-throughs.

Even ranking on the first page of Google’s search results doesn’t mean you’ll get all the click-through traffic you deserve. Interestingly enough, I’ve been noticing this firsthand recently.

One of my niche sites bounces between the 2nd and 5thspot on the first page. I checked my Webmaster Tools and noticed that I get more clicks in position 3 than in position 2. This may have to do with users not being able to immediately distinguish where paid ads end and organic listings start, but it can also partially be attributed to the fact that the listing in position 2 doesn’t have a descriptive title.

Producing enticing copy – titles and descriptions – is crucial to increasing click rates.

What should you do to increase your click-through rates?

Use your Webmaster Toolsaccount to find a list of keywords and corresponding rankings and click-through percentages. Start by focusing on the keywords getting the most impressions and also rank in the top 5 results.

Test different keyword combinations and phrases to aim or exceed these averages for each respective ranking.

Tip #5: Go responsive to get mobile traffic.

I really can’t say it any better than this – make sure you don’t miss out on mobile traffic.

Tip #6: Take advantage of the “Skyscraper Technique”.

The Skyscraper Technique plays on the psychology of normal human behavior. As humans, we are naturally curious about the biggest and best of everything.

For instance, have you ever wondered who the 2nd richest person in the world is? Probably not as often as you’ve wondered about the richest person in the world, right? Even Google’s monthly search volume backs up this claim. The keyword “richest person in the world” is searched 27,100 times a month in the U.S., while “second richest person in the world” is only searched 140 times.

To apply this concept to your SEO efforts, start by:

1. Find a popular resource that lists the “Top” or “Best” of something.Make sure the post has tons of authority links. BuzzSumo can help you find popular content, and you can verify the backlinks via Open Site Explorer or Ahrefs.
2. Build on the content you’ve found.Here’s where that human proclivity for the best comes in. Use (don’t copy) the content from the original resource as a springboard and improve on it. Produce a bigger, better list or resource. For example, if you find a list of “The Best 50 Google Chrome Extensions”, make a list of “The Best 101 Google Chrome Extensions”!
3. Reach out and share your awesome content with influencers who shared or linked to the original resource. This means sharing your post so that it gets exposure. After sharing your resource on your own social media accounts, reach out to specific influencers and ask them to re-tweet or re-share your post if they like or find it useful.

While this strategy is more time-consuming than the others, it can be a huge link building opportunity when executed well.

Just remember, don’t push mediocre content or you’ll end up doing more harm than good, especially in the eyes of other industry veterans and authority figures.

Final Word

All the changes above, if implemented properly, have the potential to deliver huge results. They may not be easy to apply overnight, but you will not regret incorporating these tips into your marketing plan.

It is also important to consider that these concepts may not perfectly fit your site or industry, so don’t be afraid to tweak aspects of the ideas to fit your needs. After all, SEO is all about creativity and experimenting.